US Airways Flight Diverted Midair Amid Security Scare
A security scare brought on by a suspiciously behaving passenger on a flight from Paris to Charlotte, N.C., caused a US Airways flight to divert from its scheduled path and make an emergency landing at a Maine airport on Tuesday afternoon.
US Airways Flight 787 was midair above the northeastern tip of Canada when a passenger passed a cryptic note to a flight attendant saying that an explosive device had been surgically implanted in her body.
The passenger was a French citizen, but originally came from Cameroon and she had no luggage aboard the flight.
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The flight, which took off from the Paris-Charles de Gualle airport Tuesday morning, was carrying 179 passengers and nine crew members when it was forced to make its emergency landing in Bangor, Maine.
"We are aware of reports of a passenger who exhibited suspicious behavior during flight. Out of an abundance of caution the flight was diverted to BGR where it was met by law enforcement," the TSA said in a statement regarding the incident.
The pilot was ordered by the TSA to tell passengers that the flight would be diverted due to "uncharacteristically strong winds," but later apologized telling passengers the truth once the flight had safely landed.
"We saw lots of police and federal customs people take a woman off the plane in handcuffs. People were amazed at what was going on. We didn't know what was happening until we landed," passenger Stuart Frankel told The Associated Press.
The woman was arrested upon landing and the plane was searched for explosives. It is unclear what prompted the French citizen to pass the note to the flight attendant and authorities are currently investigating the motives behind the case. No immediate sign of explosives were found in the woman's body.
